A Jewish Approach to Ending Traffic Accidents

By Moshe Feiglin

24 Adar Bet, 5771
March 30, '11

Translated from the NRG website

Twelve-year-old Yael was standing on a traffic island, waiting for the light to turn green so that she could cross the street at the pedestrian crossing. Mark Patrick, driving and drunk, ran her over. It's been 15 months since the accident, but Yael is still in a coma. The doctors have already broached the possibility of organ donation with her parents. The murderer at the wheel - the Torah calls it unintentional murder, but murder nonetheless - received a 1,000 shekel fine (approximately $350) and was ordered to perform 600 hours of community service. His driver's license was revoked for 6 years.

I can sorrowfully say that I can fully identify with the pain of Yael's family. For eight months now, I have been conducting my life from the rehabilitation ward in Tel Hashomer Hospital where my son David is hospitalized after a serious car accident. Thank G-d, David emerged from his coma after almost two months - in the merit of the prayers of the entire Nation of Israel and good people throughout the world, my wife's amazing devotion to our son and the excellent care that he has received from the medical staff. Words can never suffice to thank everyone. David's condition has improved immensely, but he still has a long and difficult road ahead of him. I hope that Yael and her family will experience similar miracles.

(Click here for a short Hebrew video clip of David making the traditional blessing at the scene of the accident for having experienced a miracle. David first makes the blessing and then says, "Thank G-d, I am standing, I am talking, I am alive - thanks to the Holy One, Blessed Be He" ) The driver who made a u-turn over a white line, smashing my son's head into an electric pole, has already gotten his license back. His trial has not yet begun. I met a brilliant young computer genius in the rehab ward. He was run over at a pedestrian crosswalk and left strewn on the road in the rain for three hours. The boy is broken in body and spirit. The driver eventually returned to the scene of the accident and was not charged with hit-and-run driving but with abandonment, which carries a lighter sentence. She is also back on the road.

I have seen many more cases like these. The common denominator of them all is that the victims of the MVAs are treated by the state, while the perpetrators of the horror are disconnected from any interaction with their victims.

Slowly, a basic plan to rectify the dire MVA situation has formed in my head. The plan will not bring justice or relief to the victims, but can dramatically reduce the number of people murdered on the roads.

One of Judaism's prime principles is that every man is a king. He must rule over himself. He enjoys complete freedom of choice and thus, is completely responsible for his actions. A person who unintentionally caused damage is still responsible for the results of his negligence. A murderer is a murderer, even if he did not mean to murder. True, he is an unintentional murderer, but the definition still remains. He does not deserve the death penalty, but he must bear responsibility for his actions.

In the first stages after my son's accident, I had no interest in who caused the accident and how it happened. All of my energies were focused on David. Slowly but surely, though, the strange fact that there was no interaction between my son and the person who injured him filtered into my consciousness. The State of Israel has erected an iron curtain between the perpetrator and the victim. The state compensates the victim and is supposed to punish the perpetrator. Legally, the victim is recognized as a side in the ensuing court case, but in practice he has almost no influence on the entire process.

This strange situation probably stems from good intentions. Instead of forcing the victims of MVAs to chase after the murderers on the road for their compensation, the state (by means of mandatory insurance) takes care of it. There is no doubt that this eases the bureaucratic pain that the victims must endure and that they are better off than people who are injured in other types of accidents. But while good intentions are fine, we all know what path they pave.

Before explaining my plan, I would like to ask all the drivers reading this article a simple question: What do you prefer? To drive at a speed of 130 kilometers per hour or to drive without insurance? Please be honest.
Almost everyone who I asked immediately answered that they prefer to drive at 130 kilometers per hour. In other words, when we purchase mandatory insurance, we are actually purchasing a license to kill. We pay the fine in advance, along with all the other drivers in Israel. As soon as we have paid our mandatory insurance, we turn the responsibility for driving safety from personal accountability to the state's responsibility.

The procedure that makes it easy for the victims to receive their compensation actually encourages drivers to drive less carefully than they would if they thought they would have to pay for damages from their own pockets. It adds more and more victims to the rosters of those who will be able to easily collect compensation. What can we do? If we rescind mandatory insurance, most of the victims will not receive compensation. The cost of rehabilitation and help for MVA victims is immense. If a person will not be lucky enough to be run over by a millionaire, he will likely not receive the compensation that he needs.

Obviously, mandatory insurance should not be rescinded. But the responsibility for the victim should remain with the guilty driver and end with the state, and not vice versa. Today, the responsibility begins with the state and ends with the state. Just as a person who divorces remains responsible and must continue to support his children, so a person who hurts another must remain responsible for his actions - even if he did nothing wrong from a purely legal standpoint.

This means that we will no longer be able to rely on insurance. If a driver hurts somebody, the responsibility to compensate the victim will be on his shoulders. All the measures that the state takes against a divorced father who does not pay child support - from prohibiting him from leaving the country to confiscation of his salary - will hover over our heads every time we get behind the steering wheel.

The insurance will enter the picture, as per the decision of the court, in the following instances: If all the driver's funds are insufficient to compensate the victim or if the court will be convinced that the driver acted responsibly and an external force caused the accident. In this case, the court will be allowed to divide the compensation payment between the driver and/or the insurance company.

The main idea behind this approach is that the responsibility returns to the driver. He will never know if the court will be lenient with him or how much it will order the State to pay in his stead. The responsibility will remain firmly on the driver's shoulders and all that he would be able to do in case of an accident would be to pray for a lenient court decision.

I think that if this proposal would be adopted, we would be able to put many of the traffic laws back into mothballs. Many people would prefer to use public transportation. Where responsibility prevails, laws are not necessary.

Sounds threatening? Are we willing to assume responsibility for our actions? That is the million-dollar question. Most people prefer the current situation because nobody believes that he is the next in line. Instead, we attempt to escape to all sorts of solution that cost billions; more police, more infrastructure - all important solutions, but they do not change the essence of the situation because they do not get down to its roots.

This proposal deals with the problem at its source. It can save hundreds of lives annually and prevent the injury of thousands more. This solution does not cost anything, will ensure that the victims receive proper rehabilitation, is based on Jewish principles and will drastically reduce MVAs in our country. Are we willing to take responsibility and adopt it?